I’m nibbling the Pistachio and Za’atar Crusted Colorado Lamb Loin in the elegantly renovated, recently reopened Penrose Room at The Broadmoor resort.
The meat is so juicy and tender, maybe the best lamb I’ve ever had. But I have to admit that even though this meal is epic, I am left with a slight aftertaste of hypocrisy.
My own.
Being aware of one’s hypocrisy is a handy thing, the best antidote to self-righteousness. So I can’t enjoy this gastronomic delight without recognizing that this monumental splurge supports Broadmoor (and Gazette and Seven Falls and Cog Railway) owner and right-wing oligarch Phil Anschutz. [Editor’s note: Also a purported dark money kingpin.]
Out of one side of my mouth, I rail against authoritarianism, while out the other, I sigh at the pleasures the authoritarians provide.
Here’s my puny rationalization:
Collectively, we can criticize the oligarchs who built and still influence Colorado Springs – often pushing our politics into fascistic realms – but we also must recognize that the wealthy have raised our quality of life.
Take the Penrose Room, the only restaurant to boast both the AAA Five-Diamond and Forbes Five-Star rating. It was damn good before Covid, and it’s even better now, as the decor has been updated, leaving all the elegance without any of the stuffy. The food is fab, brought up to contemporary standards with a dynamite raw bar and a cute “cocktail trolley” they roll to your table.
So many chefs and food managers trained at The Broadmoor have gone on to open their own places or enhance the kitchens of other restaurants.
I can rationalize all I want, but I have to admit to the hypocrisy.
It’s like when I wanted to stand against the firing of Jimmy Kimmel by canceling Disney+ but decided to wait until after “Alien Earth” was over. By then, he’d already been rehired.
Don’t we all have these little hypocrisies, the odd purchase on Amazon, the jar you don’t recycle because you don’t want to clean it? I suspect so.
These make us flawed. They make us human.
And they hopefully encourage us to do better, donating to food banks, volunteering at our schools, or finding ways to stand against authoritarianism.
Flawed people can do great work, and they’re the only people I know.
(I can just hear Trump laughing at my snowflakiness. Those without consciences wouldn’t understand any of this.)
What to watch
Millibo Art Theatre specializes in producing original theater or showcasing original traveling shows. But once a year, they reach into the theatrical canon to produce a familiar, often time-worn classic.
There’s nothing worn about their new production of “A Doll’s House,” a period drama by Henrik Ibsen that feels oddly vital, modern, and triumphant. Longtime local actor Christian O’Shaughnessy directs five of the best actors in the Springs to create a domestic comedy strangled by their characters’ lies. It feels that with every scene, the pleasant living room set gets smaller and smaller, the air sucked out, the tension building.
See it.
“A Doll’s House” plays Thursdays through Sundays through Nov. 23 at the Millibo (1626 S. Tejon St.). Tickets available at themat.org.
The Epstein Files is a regular Bulletin column featuring Warren Epstein’s take on politics, food, the arts and whatever else is on his mind. There will always be one mention of President Donald Trump as a confirmation that yes, Trump is in The Epstein Files. As Bulletin board chair, Epstein does not accept pay for his writing here.
